Chamber and committees

As is normal practice for the management of outbreaks such as these Health Protection Scotland (HPS) convened an Incident Management Team (IMT). The IMT is a multi-agency team comprising HPS, Food Standards Scotland, NHS Boards, Scottish E. coli O157/VTEC Reference Laboratory and Local Authority Environmental Health Teams. Membership was expanded to include Public Health England when cases were identified in England. It is the role of the IMT to consider all available evidence; epidemiological, microbiological, environmental and food chain investigations and to make recommendations based on this evidence to protect the health of the public.

On 15 September the IMT issued a statement summarising some of the investigations to date, which reported that epidemiological investigations have identified Dunsyre Blue cheese as the most likely cause of the outbreak. This was based on consideration of all available evidence including that 19 of the 22 confirmed cases had eaten blue cheese prior to becoming ill. Of these, 15 were known to have eaten Dunsyre Blue while others cannot be certain about the brand of blue cheese they have consumed. Investigations are ongoing on the other cases. Despite extensive investigation, no other common link to a majority of cases could be established.

In food related outbreaks, it is not unusual that the investigation does not directly link all of the cases to the suspected vehicle. This can be for a number of reasons including cases having an incomplete recollection of all the foods eaten prior to becoming unwell, secondary cases (person to person spread) and cross contamination.

During investigations of this nature it is not always possible to isolate the same strain of organism from the suspected food vehicle as from the human cases. There are a number of reasons for this, firstly as the time between the consumption of the food vehicle and the laboratory confirmation of the case can take up to three weeks and even longer in some cases, this means that the food consumed by cases is often no longer available for testing. In addition, not all of those who have eaten an implicated product will become ill because the organism may not be evenly distributed throughout the food.

The IMT has considered all the information available to them, and continue to be of the view that Dunsyre Blue remains the most likely cause of the outbreak.

Decisions taken by Food Standards Scotland are based on consumer protection and it uses all of the evidence available during an outbreak investigation and not on the testing results alone.

Homeowners are responsible for the maintenance and repairs needed to keep their homes in good condition. The maintenance of a tenement is usually governed by rules and conditions set out in the title deeds for the flats within the block. Title deeds may set out who owns the common parts of the tenement and who is responsible for them, how decisions are to be made and how costs are to be allocated between owners.

If there is nothing in the title deeds covering maintenance and repair or they are uncertain, the Tenement Management Scheme under the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 makes provision for the maintenance and management of common property in a tenement.

In some cases, maintenance and repairs to tenements may be blocked or delayed by owners who are unable to contribute to common works. Under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, local authorities have broad discretionary powers to offer assistance, although this will be subject to local priorities and resources. The Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 introduced a discretionary power for local authorities to pay missing shares on behalf of owners, and we recently announced the launch of a pilot equity loan scheme to assist owners with energy efficiency improvements and essential repairs.

The reintroduction of white-tailed eagles, also known as sea eagles, to Scotland since 1975 has been closely monitored by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), with support from land managers and volunteers. In 2015, there were 106 breeding pairs in Scotland. These mainly are in the west, with four pairs in the eastern half of Scotland, and the reintroduction can be considered a conservation success. Background information on the species, including its legal and conservation status and its ecology, can be found on the SNH website at the following link http://www.snh.gov.uk/about-scotlands-nature/species/recent-species-projects/sea-eagle/.

The white-tailed eagle population is in a strong growth period and SNH has commissioned RSPB to model future population growth and geographical spread to assess how the population may develop. This report will be published in due course. Close monitoring work continues in the east of Scotland as the released birds there are now maturing and settling to breed. Such monitoring is important in fulfilling our obligations under International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Reintroduction Guidelines.

The species also has the highest levels of protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, being listed on Schedules 1, 1A and A1. Schedule A1 lists bird species whose nests are protected at all times from disturbance, including outwith the breeding season. Schedule 1A lists those bird species which are protected from harassment. As a raptor species, the white-tailed eagle is a priority with the Partnership Against Wildlife Crime Scotland.

Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS), SNH, and other key stakeholders have developed guidance in relation to managing forests for white-tailed eagle to integrate the presence of the birds with commercial forest management.

SNH and the National Farmers Union of Scotland are currently working with a stakeholder group (which includes RSPB and FCS) to develop an Action Plan for white-tailed eagles. The aim of the Plan is to ensure the population continues to recover and co-exist with land management.

SNH operates a Management Scheme to manage conflict between sheep farming and white-tailed eagles. This provides a range of support measures, including call-off contractors who can respond quickly to provide practical advice and support to help mitigate risks to livestock.

An assessment of potential wider economic benefits is recommended where wider economic impacts are likely to occur.

Work was suspended by the Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA) in relation to the planning permission appeal PPA-390-2029 in January 2015 following the announcement of the moratorium on granting consents for unconventional oil and gas developments in Scotland.

Therefore, given that no finalised reports exist, it is not possible to reference this work as part of the commissioned research into unconventional oil and gas including coal bed methane.

However, in any responses that are submitted to the consultation following publication of the research, parties may choose to refer to any of their own research that was undertaken in the course of preparing for the appeal.

Both tree planting and peatland restoration can provide greenhouse gas savings. However it is not possible to provide a strict comparison as to the relative scale of greenhouse gas benefits as this will depend on a wide variety of factors such as soil type and condition and type of tree being planted. The level of greenhouse gas sequestration for both will build up over time.

Greenhouse gas estimates for peatland restoration are currently in the process of being finalised but the estimates provided by ClimateXChange for the second Report on Policies and proposals suggested peatland would deliver net emission reductions of 1.5 tCO2e/ha (cumulative) over five years; 12 tCO2e/ha over 15 years, 21 tco2e/ha over 20 years and 32.5 tCO2e over 25 years. We expect to see updated estimates later this year.

On average the Greenhouse gas savings from tree planting would be 4.25 tco2e/ha (cumulative) over five years; 55.5 tco2e/ha over 15 years; 161.5 tco2e/ha over 20 years and 283 tco2e/ha over 25 years.

In the last eight years, the Scottish Government has provided in the region of £211,000 to a variety of organisations including Nestrans, Highland/North Ayrshire/Perth and Kinross Council and Glasgow Airport. The Scottish Government has also committed to contribute to funding through the Longannet Task Force and the Aberdeen City Region Deal.

The Scottish Government is not the promoter of peat extraction at Auchencorth Moss and does not have any proposals to extract peat from the site.

In terms of proposal to extract peat within Scotland can I refer the member to the answer to questions S5W-01192 and S5W-01197 on 20 July 2016, planning applications are determined in accordance with the relevant development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Scottish Planning Policy (2014) paragraph 248 is clear that the review of mineral permissions every 15 years should be used to apply up-to-date operating and environmental standards. As a statement of Ministers’ priorities the content of Scottish Planning Policy is a material consideration that carries significant weight. 

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The reviewing of old mineral permissions is a matter for individual Planning Authorities to address. The information requested is therefore not held centrally.